Study reveals consumer habits of teenage girls

March 12, 2010

A key market demographic — teenage girls — is still driving profit despite the recession, according to a recent study. Euro RSCG Worldwide PR released the white paper, “The Teenage Girl as Consumer and Communicator,” which reveals that teen girls as careful spenders and focused communicators.

Seventy-one percent of teen girls go online to maintain existing friendships, not to browse aimlessly. They are also value-minded, with more than 60 percent generally waiting for items to go on sale before making a purchase; 77 percent are more likely to buy a sale-priced item than one at full price.

The paper also proves that almost all social interaction in this group is driven by a sense of intimacy with a select group of friends and family — including shopping, which the study characterizes as a core social activity.

“[Teenage girls] are unique in virtually every aspect of their consumption behavior,” Marian Salzman, president of Euro PR, North America, said in a release. “From the way they watch ads to the way they purchase products to the way  … they discuss the products they purchase, they buy and spend in an almost ritualistic manner. And because their generation is perhaps the first fully ‘wired’ one, their habits will determine how relevant markets develop today and in the future.”

Other findings from this study include:

• Almost 40 percent sign up for e-mails from their favorite brands to hear about sales and promotions, indicating a preference to approach brands rather than being targeted.
• Sixty-five percent say when their favorite brand or store has a sale, they want to share the information with their best friend or sister, and 57 percent say when they discover a new brand or trend, they tell a best friend or sister. About 80 percent prefer one-to-one communication (texting or phone calls) over broadcast platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Fifty-nine percent say maintaining a unique personal style is important to them, which is approximately double the number of girls who prefer to dress similarly to their friends. Forty-three percent are influenced by the style of celebrities and just 26 percent by “cool” girls at school.

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